From Rutgers Turf blogger Dr. Matthew Elmore:
The summer of 2018 isn’t going away quietly for many in New Jersey. August 2018 will be remembered for a steady dose of torrential rain that has made turfgrass management extremely difficult, especially in the northern half of the state. In the last 30 days, over 12 inches of rain have fallen across several counties in Northern NJ. This is almost triple the 30-year average of approximately 4 inches of rain for this period in a normal year.
These rains have produced saturated soils during an already difficult time of year for cool-season turfgrass (examined by Dr. Jim Murphy in a previous post). High humidity and extended periods of leaf wetness have provided ideal conditions for diseases as well. Desirable turfgrass is thinning out and giving the competitive advantage to certain weeds. If you have weed problems right now you are not alone!
Nutsedge, false-green kyllinga, and creeping bentgrass (where it is a weed in poorly drained areas) are very competitive perennial weeds in wet soils and I’ve noticed they have become more prevalent in recent weeks. Even roughstalk bluegrass has awoken from summer dormancy in some spots.
Amongst annual weeds, crabgrass and goosegrass seem to be especially prevalent this year. Plants that escaped pre-emergence applications matured very rapidly through warm and wet conditions in late July through mid August and made post-emergence control difficult. Crabgrass and goosegrass are much more difficult to control as they mature beyond the 5-7 tiller stage of growth.
Read more and see photos here